The Press: New Masses v. The Nation

Being liberal these days is simply a matter of being more liberal than the next man. There are some who believe that Herbert Hoover is a radical. There are others who believe that Herbert Hoover—and H. L. Mencken and Norman Thomas—are old fogies.

The New Masses ("liberal" monthly) in its February issue spoke bitterly about The Nation ("liberal" weekly) :

"Some weeks ago in his page in The Nation, Heywood Broun offered an opinion as to what was wrong with that godly mouthpiece of prosperous liberalism.

"He suggested .that The Nation was too solemn, and that its editor, Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard, ought to be taken to a night club occasionally, and shot full of synthetic hell.

"Wrong. Sin and gin will not help The Nation. Mr. Broun himself has been helped by neither. Tex Guinan has not helped him to courage, or wit, or passion or greatness. A Broadway night club is not a nursery for brave thinking.

"Mr. Villard might do better if he left off his boiled shirt for a few nights, and panhandled his bed and board along the Bowery. "Mr. Villard needs bitterness, not expensive fun. He has had the latter all of his life. Heywood Broun needs a little iron, too. This country just now badly needs a few bitter men like William Lloyd Garrison. It stinks with a well-fed, mellow complacency, the spirit that elected Herbert Hoover."